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posted by takyon on Monday August 03 2015, @08:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the coutsourcing dept.

In Dongguan City, located in the central Guangdong province of China, a technology company has set up a factory run almost exclusively by robots, and the results are fascinating.

The Changying Precision Technology Company factory in Dongguan has automated production lines that use robotic arms to produce parts for cell phones. The factory also has automated machining equipment, autonomous transport trucks, and other automated equipment in the warehouse.

There are still people working at the factory, though. Three workers check and monitor each production line and there are other employees who monitor a computer control system. Previously, there were 650 employees at the factory. With the new robots, there's now only 60. Luo Weiqiang, general manager of the company, told the People's Daily that the number of employees could drop to 20 in the future.

The robots have produced almost three times as many pieces as were produced before. According to the People's Daily, production per person has increased from 8,000 pieces to 21,000 pieces. That's a 162.5% increase.
...
The growth of robotics in the area's factories comes amidst a particularly harsh climate around factory worker conditions, highlighted by strikes in the area. One can only wonder whether automation will add fuel to the fire or quell some of the unrest.

Is eliminating the work force the best way to solve labor unrest?


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  • (Score: 1) by Murdoc on Tuesday August 04 2015, @01:57AM

    by Murdoc (2518) on Tuesday August 04 2015, @01:57AM (#217696) Homepage

    This is something I've been thinking about more over the past couple of years, that perhaps if we treated people more like machines, they'd be happier and more productive. I know, that sounds awful, but notice that I didn't say "exactly" like machines. I don't mean "do the same things to them that you would with an actual machine", but rather this approach: Here's an unknown machine that varies in it's productivity depending on how it is treated (just like every other machine). What do we have to do to make it more productive, and that includes making it last longer (and even want to stay)? It should be obvious that health and happiness would then become priorities (even though I know that yes, some people don't get that). Additionally, that each of these "machines" works differently, and needs to be treated differently (after all, they all come with different software and hardware). Over time and study of individual units, I'm sure that certain commonalities and even "types" may start to be noticed, but until these can be reliably and scientifically predicted, each unit should be treated individually.

    And yes, the other main difference is that we can't just throw these machines out if they displease us. Human rights and all that. ;)